Creolization? Or Globalization?

[Alex Enkerli]

Hello all.
Rachel asks me to elaborate on the "conception of cultural dynamics
informed by sociolinguistic issues". Well, the problem is, I don't
have specific references handy.

But scholars do seem increasingly interested in studying the
specifics of language change to give them insights in broader
patterns of cultural change. At least at Université de Montréal,
people like Gilles Bibeau, Pierrette Thibault (and her students),
John Leavitt, and Monique Desroches have been looking at such issues
in diverse ways. What can language adoption imply in terms of social
identity? How do "creole societies" solve issues of cultural
integration? What can we infer of culture from an examination of
historical linguistics? Etc.

The terminology describing cultural change is usually rather tricky.
Terms like "hybridization", "syncretism", "transculturalism" and, of
course, "acculturation", all tend to carry unwanted assumptions. It's
the same thing with "creolization" but, in this case, some people are
using it to look directly at the linguistic dimension of
sociocultural dynamics.

In fact, this can even be expanded a little bit. In music, for
instance, scholars are using sociolinguistic terms like "diglossia"
and "code-switching" (Mark Slobin) to describe how people integrate
more than one system in their performance.

Again, sorry for the lack of specific references.

Alex
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